Section 3Sec./Art. 3

Definition of Terms. As used in thisAct:

(a)Childrefers to a person below eighteen (18) years of age or those over but are unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of physical, mental, intellectual or sensory disability or condition. For purposes of thisAct, a child shall also refer to:

(1)A person regardless of age who is presented, depicted or portrayed as a child as defined herein; and

(2)Computer-generated, digitally or manually crafted images, or graphics of a person who is represented or who is made to appear to be a child as defined herein.

(b)Child sexual abuserefers to any form of communication through any platform or format, or any physical interaction between a child and any person when the child is being used for anyactor activity inducing sexual stimulation or for the purpose of sexual gratification or in pursuit of the desire to have carnal knowledge of the child, regardless of the gender of the perpetrator or the victim, or the consent of the victim;

(c)Child sexual abuse or exploitation material or child sexual abuse material (CSAEM/CSAM)refers to any representation, whether offline, or by, through or with the use of ICT, by means of visual, video, audio, written, or any combination thereof, by electronic, mechanical, digital, optical, magnetic or any other means, of a child engaged or involved in real or simulated sexual activities, or depictingactsof sexual abuse or exploitation of a child as a sexual object. It shall also include materials that focus on the genitalia or other private body parts of a child. For purposes of thisAct, CSAEM may interchangeably be referred to as CSAM;

(d)Child sexual exploitationrefers to any of the followingactseven if consent appears to have been granted by the child:

(1)Child sexual abuse with consideration whether monetary or nonmonetary consideration, favor, or benefit in exchange for the opportunity to perform such abusive or exploitativeact

(2)Actual sexual intercourse with a child or children with or without consideration;

(3)Employing fraud, machination, undue influence, intimidation, threat or deception by any person to commit sexual abuse of or sexual intercourse with a child or children; or

(4)Any other similar or analogousactsrelated to child abuse, cruelty or exploitation or to be responsible for other conditions prejudicial to the development of the child;

(e)Competent authorityrefers to law enforcement authority, investigating authority, prosecutor, court, telecommunications/ICT regulator, cybercrime investigator/coordinator, data privacy regulator, or the National Coordination Center against OSAEC and CSAEM (NCC-OSAEC-CSAEM);

(f)Computerrefers to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electrochemical, or other data processing or communications device, or grouping of such devices, capable of performing logical, arithmetic, routing, or storage functions and which includes any storage facility or equipment or communications facility or equipment directly related to or operating in conjunction with such device. It covers any type of computer device including devices with data processing capabilities like mobile phones, smartphones, computer networks and other devices connected to the internet;

(g)Computer datarefers to any representation of facts, information, or concepts in a form suitable for processing in a computer system, including a suitable program that can enable a computer system to perform a function, and electronic documents or electronic data messages whether stored in local computer systems or online;

(h)Content datarefers to the content of the communication, the meaning or purport of the communication, or the message or information being conveyed by the communication, other than traffic data, or subscriber's information/registration information;

(i)Groomingrefers to predatory conduct,act, or pattern ofacts, of establishing a relationship of trust, or emotional connection by another, with a child or someone who is believed to be a child, and/or the family, guardian, and/or caregivers, whether in person or via electronic and other similar devices, for the purpose of perpetrating sexual abuse or exploitation or the production of any form of CSAEM;

(j)Image-based sexual abuse (ISA)refers to a form of technology-facilitated sexual violence. The term describes a pattern of behavior involving the nonconsensual creation, distribution, or threats to distribute nude or sexual images. It includes a diversity of behaviors including, but not limited to, "sextortion scams," the use of artificial intelligence to construct "deepfake" pornographic videos, threats to distribute photographs and videos; and the taking or sharing of sexual assault imagery;

(k)Information and communications technology (ICT)refers to the totality of electronic means to access, create, collect, store, process, receive, transmit, present and disseminate information;

(l)Internet addressrefers to the uniform resource locator or internet protocol address of an internet site;

(m)Internet assetincludes internet site and any device that is engaged in peer-to-peer sharing of OSAEC and CSAEM

(n)Internet caforkioskrefers to an establishment or any place or venue that offers or proposes to offer the use of its computer/s or computer system for the purpose of accessing the internet, computer games or related activities:Provided, That for purposes of thisAct, non-formal business establishments that provide internet services shall also be considered as internet caf or kiosk;

(o)Internet hotspotrefers to an establishment or any place or venue that offers access to the internet. It includes hotels or motels, malls, restaurants, internet cafs or kiosks, public spaces or other related/similar places;

(p)Internet intermediariesrefer to persons or entities that provide infrastructure, platforms, access to, and host, transmit and index content, products and services originated by third parties on the internet. These include, among others:

(1)Internet service providers;

(2)Web hosting providers including domain name registrars;

(3)Internet search engines and portals;

(4)E-commerce intermediaries;

(5)Internet payment system providers; and

(6)Participative network platform providers including social media intermediaries.

(q)Internet service provider (ISP)refers to a public telecommunication entity (PTE) or value-added service (VAS) provider duly authorized by or registered with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that provides users or other entities with data connection allowing access to the internet through physical transport infrastructure, and such access is necessary for internet users to access content and services on the internet, and for content providers to publish or distribute materials online;

(r)Internet siterefers to a website, bulletin board service, internet chat room, newsgroup, or any other internet or shared network protocol address;

(s)Luringrefers to theactof communicating, by means of a computer system, with a child or someone who the offender believes to be a child for the purpose of facilitating the commission of sexual activity or production of any form of CSAEM;

(t)Online sexual abuse or exploitation of children (OSAEC)refers to the use of ICT as a means to abuse and/or exploit children sexually, which includes cases in which offline child abuse and/or exploitation is combined with an online component. This can also include, but is not limited to, the production, dissemination and possession of CSAEM; online grooming of children for sexual purposes; sexual extortion of children, sharing image-based sexual abuse; commercial sexual exploitation of children; exploitation of children through online prostitution; and live-streaming of sexual abuse, with or without the consent of the victim:Provided, That OSAEC may be used interchangeably with online child sexual exploitation or abuse (OCSEA);

(u)Panderingrefers to theactof offering, advertising, promoting, representing or distributing through any means any child sexual abuse or exploitation material, or any material that purports to contain any form of child sexual abuse or exploitation material, regardless of its actual content;

(v)Participative network platform providerrefers to any person or entity, including a social media intermediary, that facilitates social communication and information exchanges which is based on online technologies such as web, instant messaging, or mobile technologies, that enable users to contribute to developing, rating, collaborating and distributing internet content and developing and customizing internet applications or to conduct social networking. It may also refer to a person or an entity that provides a platform or site for blogging, video-sharing, picture-sharing, file-sharing sites, online gaming or instant messaging, among others;

(w)Payment system provider (PSP)refers to an entity engaged in any monetary transaction which includes banks, fiat or digital money service businesses including cryptocurrencies, credit card companies and other financial institutions;

(x)Personrefers to any natural or juridical entity;

(y)Sexual activityincludes the followingacts, whether actually performed or simulated:

(1)Sexual intercourse or lasciviousact, including contact involving the genitalia, oral stimulation of the genitals or oral stimulation of the anus, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex;

(2)Masturbation;

(3)Sadistic or masochistic abuse;

(4)Lascivious exhibition of the genitals, buttocks, breasts, pubic area and anus;

(5)Bestiality;

(6)Use of any object or instrument for lasciviousacts; or

(7)Any other analogous circumstance.

(z)Sexualization of a childrefers to theactof using a child as an object for the sexual desire or satisfaction of another, even if there isnoactual sexual intercourse ornoprivate part of the body of the child has been shown;

(aa)Streamingrefers to the broadcasting or viewing through the use of ICT, whether the viewer is passively watching or actively directing the content. It is considered live-streaming when the broadcasting or viewing occurs in real-time;

(bb)Subscriber's informationorRegistration informationrefers to any information contained in the form of computer data or any other form that is held by a service provider or internet intermediary, relating to subscribers or registrants of its services other than traffic or content data and by which identity can be established:

(1)The type of communication service used, the technical provisions taken thereto and the period of service;

(2)The identity, postal or geographic address, telephone and other accessnumbers, assigned network address, billing and payment information of the subscriber that is available on the basis of the service agreement or arrangement; and

(3)Any other available information on the site of the installation of communication equipment, available on the basis of the service agreement or arrangement.

(cc)Traffic dataornon-content datarefers to any computer data other than the content of the communication including the origin, destination, route, time, date, size, duration, or type of communication of the underlying service; and

(dd)Web hosting providerrefers to a person that provides infrastructure for hosting, supplies web server space and internet connectivity that enables a user to post, upload, download and share user-generated content, or a content provider who supplies content to the internet. It shall also refer to a person that provides specialized hosting services such as streaming services or application hosting, domain name registration services, or services that enable users to create and manage their websites.